So, how long should a game be?

My thoughts...

For Christmas I got Mirror's Edge, and at first I didn't like it, but just recently I started playing it again. However, I am now coming up to the end of the game (I'm on the last chapter) and to my surprise, it has only taken me about 3-4 hours. Isn't that pretty poor for a game without online?

That's a good question.
The reflexive answer is "it should be focused on quality not quantity", but that's a little glib--you can be served the best steak/pizza/whatever in the world, but even if it's the best, you still want more than one bite.
A game should be long enough to tell the story or share the experience it's supposed to, but short enough so that it doesn't get boring or repetitive.
I'm not against short games per se, L4D can be "beat" (all campaigns completed) in less than 4 hours...but I do take the playtime and replayability into account when I decide how much to pay for a game. For instance, I've heard Fable II is relatively short, 10-15 hours or so, so I'm waiting till I get it for much less than the full 60.
I think a good game can be short, and length can't save a bad game, but game length is only one important thing to be factored in when purchasing a game.
Games are much more cinematic nowadays, telling a discrete and finite story, so I think that method of storytelling lends itself to shorter games, for better or for worse.

To me it depends on the genre of the game. In my personal opinion a rpg should be longer than a fps and the ingame movies/cutscenes should be shorter than the actual gameplay.

A game with a story line should be at least 10 hours. That's my humble opinion

As long as it takes to tell the story. I would prefer a six-hour game with a well-developed narrative over a 20-hour game with a story that is stretched to make the game longer.

As long as it takes to tell the story. I would prefer a six-hour game with a well-developed narrative over a 20-hour game with a story that is stretched to make the game longer.

So the story is more important to you than the game itself? I find your way of deciding if a game is too long or too short very interesting since there are many different possibilities how to tell a story. Princess peach is kidnapped and must be saved by mario-end of story-the game should only last 10 minutes ;)

To me, this is like asking how long a song or a movie should be. Its all up to the artist(s) discretion.

I agree with the not-stretching-it-out thing but Mirror's Edge doesn't really stretch anything. It kind of shocked me when I realised how close to the end I was. It felt like I had only just got into the game, and then suddenly it is all over... :(

But also I think it is good for some games to be short. Gears of War was amazing, even though it only took 4 and a half hours on Casual (6 on insane). When I played Gears 2 I really thought it had been stretched out loads, and I got to a point where I was just wishing it would end, even though everything about it was just perfect.

I think most games are made to make people feel happy when they complete them, and that is why they are so short. Players just want a definitive start, middle and finish, and that is what Mirror's Edge gives. But for £40, I would expect more (yes I'm English, therefore my point is now invalid :D)

A game with a story line should be at least 10 hours. That's my humble opinion

agree, a single player game sud be cinda long in my opinion. we are cashing out a quit allot of money on those games, it is only descent of them to give us entertainment in return.

In fairness, Mirror's Edge does have online time trials with downloadable ghosts.

As for how long a game should be, if its good enough, you'll get replayability from it. Take Portal: only takes about 4 hours to complete, but I've played through it about three times.

I'd disagree that a game needs to be a certain length to tell a good story. Portal, again disproves that. But then, there's always been such a thing as the short story, and Portal falls nicely in to this category.

The thing is, games fall in to different categories. General discussion has been on the most common type, Action\Shooters, which usually have a fairly standard plot to action ratio, and the designer knows how long it will take you to get through the game, give or take a certain amount of time based on skill.

But other games... well, how long does it take you to "finish" Saints Row, GTA, or even Far Cry 2? It varies wildly depending on how much you focus on the main quest. I've heard several people complain of Fallout 3 being too short, as they powered straight through the main quest without any diversions. On the other hand, sports games survive on replayability, because they really don't have any plot to speak of.

...and lets not even get started on puzzle games....

30 hours. Mass Effect had it prefectly, absolutely perfect. Elder Scrolls dragged on and Fable 2 was too short.

For a shooter I think Halo 3 was about right with 7-10 hours.

For a shooter 5-8 hours if it has a good multiplayer. 10-15 hours for a shooter with no multiplayer.

Quality > quantity. I would rather have an enjoyable game that was short rather than a long game that I wanted to finished as soon as possible.

Quality > quantity. I would rather have an enjoyable game that was short rather than a long game that I wanted to finished as soon as possible.

.......Quality > Quantity.....

We all could be purists and say that, but its really not the case, is it?

Anyway, keep the proper answers coming :grin:

for a fps id say minimum 10 hours regardless of MP, RPG's on the otherhand id say at least 35-60 hours but as a general rule i dont play games that dont have atleast 20 hours of gameplay, my 2cents

Long enough to not get "Too short" written about it in any reviews is about right.

no game should take more than 12 hours but they should all have multiplayer

no game should take more than 12 hours but they should all have multiplayer

so you would be fine if the next Elder Scrolls game had only say 10 hours of gameplay and not all games need MP

all depends on the game really. On standard difficulty, this is the kind of time I expect to put into a game:
FPS: 12 hours minimum
RPG: 40+ Hours
MMO: Not time restrictive, but if it either A) takes too long to get to the max level or B) doesn't have enough in it to make you want to get to the max level then theres no point
RTS: 20+ hours
Simulations: 15+ hours

RPGs should be fairly long because they are often single player. The story line in shooters should be around 6-10 hours because the game can often be repetitive, it's probably best if the game includes multiplayer also.

so you would be fine if the next Elder Scrolls game had only say 10 hours of gameplay and not all games need MP

well I have never played elder scrolls before but I am more of a FPS character so thats mainly what I was referring to. What kind of game is elder scrolls?

well I have never played elder scrolls before but I am more of a FPS character so thats mainly what I was referring to. What kind of game is elder scrolls?

Elder Scrolls is a epic RPG series, you play as one of nine races and you can choose to specialize in one of about 30 classes or customize your guya na d mix n' match. The latest one was Oblivion, it came out back in 05. The series is made by Bethesda(the fallout 3 guys). Every RPG fan i know loves the series. On average they last 40-100 hours depending on DLC, Expansions, Side quests, guilds, skrewing around etc. you really should play it.

Elder Scrolls is amazing and very long, I just got back into it today. I think the story is pretty stretched out. At the moment I am going through a stage where I want my games to have a clear cut start, middle and end (ala Gears 2) but not to be stretched out.

Elder Scrolls is a epic RPG series, you play as one of nine races and you can choose to specialize in one of about 30 classes or customize your guya na d mix n' match. The latest one was Oblivion, it came out back in 05. The series is made by Bethesda(the fallout 3 guys). Every RPG fan i know loves the series. On average they last 40-100 hours depending on DLC, Expansions, Side quests, guilds, skrewing around etc. you really should play it.

I like games where I can play it all in one weekend.
I dont have time to play 100 hour games and still be able to stay in touch with all the current games.
I like to play games and finish then not have the feeling I wasted my money because I dont have time to go back and finish a million side quests.
Thats why I like fsp's. You can probably finish it within a weekend, the story is awesome, and muliplayer isnt too demanding (you can play it whenever, even if its for like 10 minutes unlike a quest where you feel like finishing what you started)

i perfer games within a 22-24 hour range mutliplayer is a good bonus but i still play portal and i just got into neverwinter nights 2. so i plan to be playing for awhile.